Aranarth reported to Círdan of the King's flight to the north. Círdan sent a ship to the Icebay of Forochel to seek and rescue him. However, the hull of the ship was broken on the ice and all of the passengers drowned (including Arvedui) and the two palantíri the King had secured from the fall of Fornost were lost.[2]

As the heir of Arvedui, this made Aranarth the King of Arthedain (and nominally the claimed title of King of Arnor), but he did not claim this title as the kingdom had been destroyed. He instead claimed the title of Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and with the remnants of the Dúnedain rode with Eärnur of Gondor to destroy the kingdom of Angmar.[3]

The people of Arthedain became known as the Rangers of the North, a wandering people quite content with living in secret. Due to the destruction of Angmar, and the Watchful Peace, which followed after WizardGandalf drove Sauron out of Dol Guldur, there was little evil in Arnor and attacks by the enemy were few and far between.

The Chieftains after Aranarth continued to take the kingly prefix of ar(a)-, to signify their royal heritage and their right to rule Arnor. When the line of Anárion failed, the Chieftains considered themselves the heirs of Anárion through their ancestor Fíriel; none of the Chieftains ever forgot Arvedui's claim to the throne.[4]